1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a joint connector and a method for identifying a bus bar pattern in the joint connector.
2. Background Art
FIG. 6 shows a conventional joint connector.
The conventional joint connector 101 is disclosed in JP-A-2006-324046, and includes a bus bar 111 formed of a metal plate and a housing 121 made of insulating resin for receiving and holding the bus bar 111.
The bus bar 111 juxtaposes plural tab pieces 112 capable of being connected to mating terminals. The plural tab pieces 112 are integrated with a coupling part 113 consecutively installed in a back ends of the tab pieces 112, and short-circuit connection between the mating terminals connected to each of the tab pieces 112 is made.
The housing 121 includes a housing body 124 in which bus bar accommodating parts 122 for accommodating the bus bar 111 are included in the back end side and also plural terminal receiving chambers 123 are formed in the front end side, and a cover 125 with which the back end of the housing body 124 is covered.
The terminal receiving chamber 123 is space for receiving the mating terminal connected to the tab piece 112, and the plural terminal receiving chambers 123 are disposed at an arrangement pitch of the tab pieces 112 in the bus bar 111. The bus bar 111 accommodated in the bus bar accommodating parts 122 is positioned in a state in which each of the tab pieces 112 protrudes to the respective terminal receiving chambers 123.
The mating terminal connected to the tab piece 112 is a female connecting terminal fitted into the tab piece 112, and is connected to the tab piece 112 by being inserted into the terminal receiving chamber 123 from a front side of the terminal receiving chamber 123.
The cover 125 is fitted and attached to the housing body 124 so as to cover the coupling part 113 which is the back end of the bus bar 111 from the back. Plural continuity check holes 127 are pierced in this cover 125 as shown in FIG. 7.
The continuity check hole 127 is a hole into which a continuity test pin 141 shown in FIG. 6 can be inserted. The plural continuity check holes 127 are disposed so as to expose the back end, that is the coupling part 113, of the bus bar 111 of the inside of the bus bar accommodating parts 122 at an arrangement pitch positioned in the middle between the adjacent terminal receiving chambers 123.
In the case of making a continuity check etc. of the bus bar 111 in the joint connector 101 described above, the continuity test pin 141 could be inserted into the continuity check hole 127 disposed in the back end of the housing 121 to bring the continuity test pin 141 into contact with the coupling part 113 of the bus bar 111 as shown in FIG. 6. Therefore, it is unnecessary to bring the continuity test pin 141 into contact with the tab piece 112 at the time of work of the continuity check, so that trouble such as deformation of the tab piece 112 can be prevented from occurring.